


Farewell

by greenmtwoman



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: F/M, Just trying to help us get to 8000 fics by the end of 2020, Sort of post-ADWD and Lady Stoneheart, a bit of angst, a bit of hope, but that's not really important
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:22:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28462353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greenmtwoman/pseuds/greenmtwoman
Summary: He would leave eventually.  He had a life.  He had duties, though he might scoff.  And men like him didn’t stay with women like her.  He would never be her Jaime, except at this moment, in this place shut away from the world.
Relationships: Jaime Lannister/Brienne of Tarth
Comments: 20
Kudos: 62





	Farewell

**Author's Note:**

> This began as a fragment which I thought might fit into a longer fic. Actually, it's still a fragment, but I couldn't resist posting something to try to meet the challenge of 8000 fics by the end of 2020. Not well-thought-out and barely edited.

“My Jaime.” Her lips formed the words in a whisper, almost below the level of sound, hovering a fraction of an inch above his bare shoulder. He lay on his stomach, sleeping soundly, head pillowed on his arm, breath coming softly. She would never speak the words so he could hear them. They weren’t true, after all.

 _I love him. It doesn’t matter._ He wasn’t her Jaime, and never would be. Tomorrow they would abandon this rough shelter. She would continue to try to reach the Vale, where she might find Sansa Stark. He might come with her, or he might turn away. Even if he came, even if they rescued Sansa together, he would leave eventually. He had a life. He had duties, though he might scoff. And men like him didn’t stay with women like her.

He would never be her Jaime, except at this moment, in this place shut away from the world. She would always remember the firelight on the stone wall, the prickle of the straw, the rough boards of the floor beneath them. She had been changed here, yet nothing outside her had changed. To the world she was still the Maid… _but I’m not_ … of Tarth, serious, stubborn, huge and ugly. But there was a pleasant, aching soreness inside her and a scratchy rash on her thighs from the rasp of Jaime’s beard. There was the memory of his expression as she rose over him, and his groan as he sank into her.

Now she lay awake, turning the experience over and over in her mind as he slept pressed against her. Nothing had changed. Everything had changed. Nothing had changed. “I love you.” Still too quiet to be heard. Everything had changed, and nothing had changed. He shifted to his side and pulled her closer, still sleeping.

*******

“I need to return to King’s Landing.”

She had braced herself for this, so her face remained calm, or so she hoped. “I see.”

“My… Tommen… King Tommen… He can’t be left there alone.”

The king was hardly alone, she wanted to retort, but held her tongue. “I understand.”

“I doubt you do.”

“Don’t be so sure.”

“I heard you.” He tightened the girth of his saddle, awkward with the buckles, and ran his fingers beneath the leather to check it.

“What?”

“Last night. You thought I was sleeping. I heard you.” He turned and looked at her. His jaw was tight and a muscle in his cheek twitched.

“I…” _What does it matter?_ He was doing his duty… _leaving_ … Returning to his king… _his son_ … Returning to his queen… _his sister, his lover_ … Her duty was to find Sansa and return her to Winterfell. The she would find Arya. That was her duty.

“Did you mean it?”

That stiffened her spine, even as she felt the blush reddening her cheeks. She took a deep breath. “I don’t say things I don’t mean. Yes, I love you. Yes, I called you my Jaime when I thought you couldn’t hear me. What does it matter to you what I said? You are an infuriating man.” To her horror there was a wobble in her voice. “We’ll probably never meet again.”

He was no longer so controlled. “What does it matter? You give me your maidenhead, you say you love me, and then you say what does it matter? We’ll never meet again?”

“I’m being realistic.”

“Do you think so little of yourself that you’d give yourself to a man who would think so little of you?”

She shook her head, confused. “I know our duties. I know that this is where we part. All else is irrelevant.”

“Brienne of Tarth... and you say that I am infuriating?” A dozen expressions flickered across his face, and then he kissed her soundly. “This is farewell for the moment, but it is not the end of this tale. I will deal with…” his mouth twisted “…certain family matters. And then I will find you.”

She rested her forehead against his. “Or I will see Sansa and Arya safe. And then I will find you.”

He laced his fingers with hers, left hand and right hand together. “And then we will find each other. Together.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading and Happy New Year to all! 2021 has got to be better!


End file.
